Some, like Shimon Peres and Israeli Justice Minister Tommy Lapid, call Vanunu a spy and a traitor to his homeland. Such views are understandable -- and will have been boosted by the Shin Bet interview released this week in a clumsy attempt to sway public opinion even further against him.

Vanunu may be about to be released from his prison cell but he certainly won't be a free man.

The restrictions placed on him by the Israeli authorities under the terms of his release punish him for offences he has not even committed and breach basic principles of due process.